Routley takes Elkhorn Classic

Whistler’s Will Routley was one of almost 600 racers to take
part in the three day Elkhorn Classic Stage Race in Baker City, Oregon this
past weekend, accompanied by just one of his Symmetrics Cycling teammates and
members of the provincial road team.

With the rest of his team away in Quebec, winning the Tour de
Beauce, and up against larger teams of riders working together, Routley managed
to ride with the leaders from the start, and pull away on the fourth stage to
take the win and the overall title.

At one point he found himself more than seven and a half
minutes back of the leaders, and rallied the chase group to catch up before the
final 14 km climb to the finish. He attacked, and with one rider chasing took
the stage win and enough time to win the overall.

“The last race day was 160 kilometres, which doesn’t feel that
long but it had three big climbs and a mountain top finish at 7,000 feet,” he
said. “It was a nice test race for me, because Baker City is really similar to
Bend, Oregon, where I’m racing after the nationals.

“It was phenomenal riding, a smooth highway that rolls along
the plains and heads into the mountains and there was no traffic. I managed to
put my head up a bit during the race, and I’d find myself crossing over a
beautiful river or looking up at the mountains. I want to go back there to
train.”

Routley’s next race is the Yaletown Grand Prix on Canada Day,
which he will use to get ready for the road nationals in Quebec the following
weekend. The nationals are Routley’s main focus this year, and he believes he
is riding well enough to win.

“That may seem kind of lofty is some respects because there are
a lot of good guys in that race, and guys on my team that could win it, but I
feel confident I have the fitness to be able to do it now,” he said. “There’s
obviously more to it, there is a lot of tactics, and you never know how the
race is going to play out, or how you’ll feel going out on the day. Everybody
will be going on all cylinders from the start.”

Despite losing some sponsors, the Symmetrics riders decided to
stay together as a group this year and do fewer high profile races.

“It’s pretty frustrating not being able to do the race calendar
we originally planned, but we’re still winning everything we do,” he said.
“That’s just on account of the fact that we ride well together, we’re good
friends and we want to stay together as long as possible. We’d rather find
other sponsors, and concentrate on growing the budget and calendar next year.”

Symmetrics is Canada’s top professional team, and has won races
all over North America. One rider, Svein Tuft, won the UCI America Tour title
last year to earn Canada a third road spot in the Beijing Olympics. Tuft will
ride in Beijing with European-based Canadians Ryder Hesjedal and Michael Barry.
Symmetrics also continues to be one of the highest ranked teams in North
America.